Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Two Americans stole
adult and infant body parts from a museum
inside a Bangkok hospital and tried to ship them
to Las Vegas, Thai police say.
The two men, identified as Ryan Edward
McPherson and Daniel Jamon Tanner, told police
they wanted to surprise their friends back home,
Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner Gen.
Ruangsak Jritake said.
It was not immediately clear whether McPherson
or Tanner had attorneys.
A delivery company intervened in the shipment.
On Saturday, a DHL office in Thailand's Pathum
Thani province called police after workers there
were scanning shipments and discovered the
body parts inside three packages.
The packages contained five acrylic
plastic boxes, Jritake said.
One box contained an infant's head;
another contained a baby's left foot,
which was sliced into three pieces,
the police official said. The other
acrylic boxes contained an adult heart
and adult skin.
"We have talked with an American
who was trying to send the parcels
to the USA, but we could not press
any charges on him and we are not
quite sure which laws we can apply to
him." Bang Pongpang police chief Col.
Adisorn Semsawat said over the
weekend.
At the time, police said the American told them
he found the infant body parts at a night flea
market and that he had paid about $100 for
them -- though he could not remember where
the market was located.
But on Monday, authorities revealed more
details on the case.
All the body parts were stolen from the Siriraj
Medical Museum within Siriraj Hospital, the
largest hospital in Thailand, Jritake said. The
body parts were taken from the forensic
medicine museum and anatomical museum.
Police said closed-circuit video from the hospital
showed two men identified as McPherson and
Tanner.
A Thai criminal court approved arrest warrants
for the two men on charges of theft from a
government hospital, police said. If convicted,
McPherson and Tanner could face up to seven
years in prison or a fine of up to 500,000 Thai
baht ($15,200).
But the Americans have already left Thailand for
Cambodia. Thai officials may have to seek the
two men's extradition.
Thai police say they've been in touch with the
U.S. Embassy.
Not the first time
The bizarre discovery is not the first time infant
remains have been found in Thailand. In 2010,
more than 2,000 illegally aborted fetuses were
recovered at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok.
Infant body parts can be bought on the Thai
black market. Some Thais practice black magic
and believe that supernatural power comes from
infant body parts, if the rites are performed by
monks or sorcerers. They believe that having
the items provides protection and business
success and can ward off bad luck.
Police say in 2010, the smell of decay led
investigators to the Phai-nguern Chotinaram
temple in central Bangkok, where they
discovered more than 2,000 illegally aborted
fetuses. Three people were arrested, including
two morticians who were charged with hiding
bodies.
According to the hospital museum website , for
120 years "Siriraj Hospital has collectively
gathered an enormous compilation of medical
equipments and tools, anatomical and clinical
specimens including important artifacts and
archives relating to the history of medicine in
Thailand."
CNN's Andreas Preuss contributed to this
report.
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